Russia ready to strike Ukraine, says US defense secretary Lloyd Austin

After a tremendous military buildup that fueled the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin appeared to equate Russia’s military to a snake that was uncoiling and poised to strike Ukraine on Saturday.

Austin said he agreed with President Joe Biden‘s judgement on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had decided to undertake a military invasion of Ukraine while on a trip to Lithuania.

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“They are uncoiling and are now poised to strike,” Austin said this at a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, ahead of discussions with increasingly jittery Baltic leaders.

Austin, a retired Army general, warned that Moscow may attack Ukraine at any time, and he outlined the types of military assets Russia has gathered and stationed near Ukraine.

“Having done this before, I can tell you that that’s exactly what you need to to attack and the and the stance that you need to be in to attack,” Austin said.

Moscow, which has amassed tens of thousands of troops near Ukraine’s border and is pressuring the US and NATO on security issues, has denied ambitions to attack its neighbour.

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If the Kremlin was eager to conquer Ukraine, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis expressed fear that Moscow would then turn its attention to the Baltic states and Poland.

“The battle for Ukraine is a battle for Europe. If he’s not stopped there, he will go further,” according to Landsbergis, the region’s military strategy should shift from attempting to deter Russia from attacking to preparing to defend against one.

Austin promised that Washington would stand by its Baltic allies, but he wouldn’t say if he would respond to Lithuanian calls for more soldiers.

“I want everyone in Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia to know — and I want President (Vladimir) Putin in the Kremlin to know — that the United States stands with our allies,” After conversations with Lithuanian politicians, Austin told a news conference in Vilnius.

After meeting with Austin, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda issued a statement, “It is critically important to strengthen the (Baltic states) regional security with additional troops from the United States and quicken cooperation in military procurement.”

The US has been stationing rotating groups of roughly 500 troops and equipment in Lithuania since 2019, and Nauseda urged on Washington to make this a permanent deployment in his remarks.

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Kalle Laanet, Estonia’s defence minister, told Austin in Vilnius that he had urged the US to send fighter fighters to the Baltic republics to defend their skies.

Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, the three Baltic states that were once governed by Moscow, are now members of NATO and the European Union. They don’t have their own fighter planes.

Since 2004, NATO partners have stationed six jets in the region on a rotating air policing duty.

Austin praised Lithuania for defying Russian pressure, which has included sending tens of thousands of troops to Belarus, which borders Lithuania, for joint drills that are set to conclude on Sunday.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte has stated that her country believes Russian forces in Belarus will remain for a long time.

“We can say with large certainty that we will not see the (Russian) troops withdrawn quickly, if at all,” she told reporters.

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Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko met with Putin on Friday, stating that the troops might stay for as long as they were needed.

If Russian forces stay, Simonyte believes it will put pressure on the Baltics’ only overland connection to the rest of the European Union, the Suwalki corridor, which runs between Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave.